Friday, 30 December 2016

With the holidays and kids, it's not easy to try to code but at least have done two more games for you to enjoy, which they are: "Simon Says" and "States".

As always, you can download these games in the right-menu of this blog. The answer folder "Affairs of States" for the States game is included as a PDF file inside the ZIP file.

Now 2016 is almost gone and i won't be able to release the two last games from the original pack-in (Roulette and Football) but be sure they will be release during next month as both games are about 50% done.

So until next year, enjoy these two games and have a Happy New Year! =)

Saturday, 24 December 2016

First, i wish everyone a Merry Christmas (or like in the title: Merry Odysimas!! LOL!!)

It's been a month the last time i've made an update to this blog and nothing has been done since. But i have a week off with my kids so be sure i'll enjoy every moment with them (as kids grow up too fast) but during this week, i'll "try" to released the four remaining games (Football, Simon Says, States and Roulette) of the original 12-pack but i do not make any promise.

But in the meantime, here's my replies to everyone who posted during the past month:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Posted by CN10 on November 24, 2016:I don't know if I was on a rampage, but I do admit to dumping a lot of
quarters into Rampage, back in the day (and was also berserk for
Bezerk). I'm really looking forward to getting down to play-testing this
new release of games. I watched the video for the Christmas game and
at the 1 minute mark exclaimed "Holy Bleep, it's snowing!"That game looks great, but before I see what it's all about I have to play through Analogic and the others.

Before
I forget, here's the deal with the usb controller: I have a wired
Xbox360 controller and use Xpadder. Use this link for details as to how
to set it up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8j7_oDh8F0

Its
pretty easy. I have the reset buttons mapped to the triggers, but you
can customize it to your liking. It makes Submarine relatively easy to
play. (As an Idea, I'm wondering what if you had the AI just fire random
torpedos and if the game would actually then be playable. Alternately
you could pair it with the Skiing overlay and pretend it was the opening
scene of the Spy Who Loved Me)

Thanks for all you do and I will have specific comments on each game as I play it.

And my reply:

Hi Brian! LOL!! I'm still Berzerking that Coleco never released their Berzerk tabletop but that's another story! Yeah, i've put an extra code which was made by "Brice Thomas aka Cowa" (love-snowflakes-effect)which you can get here: https://github.com/Cowa/love-snowflakes-effect but the sad part is that the original hardware can't produce this (simulators/emulators are the next best thing in this case).And thanks for the link for the USB controller video, this will be very handy once i have finished the OdySim (as i have another (harware) project in mind once the OdySim completely finished). I've noted your idea for the Submarine game as this will make more fun to play (as an extra feature) while still keeping the original game feeling (same as for all Odyssey games)...LOL!!!! You just described the whole "magic" back in 1972..."pretend" (or lots of imagination) but i usually say that the best things in life are always the simplest.So continue to bring all the ideas as i always appreciate them and it makes the OdySim more fun to play and the same for any comments you posted or will post, so Merry Xmas to you and your whole family! (and a Jolly Ho!Ho!Ho!) =)- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Anonymous posted on December 21, 2016 this comment:
Wicked man, can't believe how cool it all looks, there's another team
i'm aware of (not mentioning specifically who or what team) that's going
to be developing recreations of older and lesser known games from
different consoles starting in 2017, so you're not alone.

And my reply:

Great that you like how OdySim looks like as i'm trying my best to simulate all the games as programming isn't my cup of tea (i'm way more confortable with hardware). So i won't be alone in this quest of simulating 1st generation games ? COOOOLLL!!!!!

I know that there is a group which is preserving video arcade games from 1972 to mostly 1976 (all discrete arcade games) as i'm part of them. But as for discrete and dedicated (consoles) games, i'm more than happy to know that there other folks who wants to do the same.

I'd be happy to send you whatever files I have. Not sure how to contact you.

And my reply:

Hello Mr.Vinciguerra!

So happy to see that we've made contact as my last attemp to contact you was by Ebay on March 15, 2016. I think i have all the files (documents/pictures) for simulating all your homebrew games but i will check this week just to be sure.

What i really need is that i have your permission to simulate all your Odyssey homebrews (Odball, Mentis Cohorts and Red vs. Blue) for the OdySim as these will more complete it's library and also to preserve your games.

You can contact me (as anybody else) at the email address: slydc@yahoo.ca

(Note to myself: need to put this email address into this blog and others!)

Tuesday, 22 November 2016

Looks like i had some time today so i have updated not one but FIVE!! Yes, five games! Here's which games: Analogic (with sound and red chips), Cat and Mouse, Ski, Table Tennis (with sound, AI, scoreboards and not one but two overlays) and the last game: Santa's Gifts Hunt (added the first overlay draft as a bonus game - many thanks for CN10 for the suggestion!).

You can dowload all these new updates on the right menu, just click and save where you want it.

Ok, now there is only 4 games left on the 12 original games that came with the Odyssey, which leaves: Football (this one will be a pain in ass!), Roulette, Simon Says and States.

November 04, 2016: The latest post contains a giant amount of great stuff! My initial comments are:-I
will hopefully have time to play at least one of the games this
weekend. The games are like fine paintings, and it's not good to just
glance at them. You have to get with the instructions first and then
try to work the actual game. (In fact I'm still working on my ability in
tennis).-The pictures of the teleprompter are rather jaw-dropping.
I'm not even sure what I'm seeing other than a time juxtaposition of 40
years! Looking forward to read more about that. (Also accentuating my
surprise is that I use that very same model of Amiga monitor for retro
gaming, with the lower lip opened to adjust the controls. I spent many
hours playing Defender of the Crown back in the day, followed by even
more hours of It Came from the Desert). -The Patent reference does
clearly talk about a scoreboard. The problem is that it's too easy to
spend time checking out the other patent links. I'm still looking for a
working example of "Automatic bowling scorer with cathode-ray tube
display"-I've also long believed that Haunted House should be
shooting game, like "Shoot out." It would be awesome to see it
"updated" in that fashion.-Speaking of shooting games, do you have
thoughts on the ideal hardware set-up for the odysim shooting games? I
know they make light guns for an LCD monitor but I don't have one. I do
have the old ACT-Labs light gun for PC monitors (but requiring an CRT
VGA monitor), and am planning to try this out with the Ody-Sim soon.

Thanks again for your hard work on this fascinating piece of videogame history!

My reply: About the Teleprompter mod, i will discuss about this in the future as well as many other mods/hack for the Magnavox Odyssey. I know that the first one people will ask is the Video output and the second one will be Audio output. I've already done the video output mod and i have made a schematic for the audio output but the circuit isn't built yet. All this and more this upcoming year (2017). You still have oyur Amiga monitor ? Lucky you as mine has kicked the bucket as i accidently dropped the monitor and broke the neck of the CRT. :(

The scoreboard in the patent was to illuminate with a spot a number on the screen but would have needed to resize the wall spot and be able to move it to do so. Was a good idea back then. As for Haunted House as a shooting game, it will be in the "Super OdySim" as this will be another project once the OdySim is finalise.

I did thought abit on this for a LCD light Gun to be able to play with the shooting games with the OdySim, but for now i'm trying to release all the games. As now, there is only four games for the Rifle Gun and three others i've made as homebrews for it. Maybe another project ?

But if anyone wanna use a real Rifle Gun on a LCD/LED TV, it will work as the Rifle Gun needs only a light source (like a light bulb, a brigh LED, even a candle!) to work. Don't beleive me then try it! :P

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

November 10, 2016: I finally got a chance to play Submarine. The sound is a nice addition.
The scoreboard is great! When I consider the games I think If you were
snowbound in a cabin with your family with nothing but an Odyssey set
and a television (that didn't get any other signal), which games would
you most likely play? Submarine is actually playable, and good in that
you don't need a PHd, as you do in Football and Baseball. The big
limitation, I think, is deciding when the ships actually leave the blue
line (and are lost to "mines") particularly at the mess of spagetti at
the 4 O'clock position. I think if they had made the ship course humanly
possible to follow (as they did with Skiing), it would have made the
game markedly better. (I wonder if back in the day, anyone tried playing
it with the skiing overlay).

I really appreciate having the
option for "true simulation" (with and without the overlay) and the
"aftermarket upgrades" (particularly the scoreboards, which a are
completely necessary to make the games actually playable).

Looking
forwards to trying Hockey soon. I will try to see If I can program my
USB joystick to to Work with OdySim which may make the gameplay better.

Thanks again for the privilege of Submarine Sly, I will probably boot it up again soon!

My reply: Great that you like Submarine with sound and all. Any "aftermarket upgrades" as you call them is only to make the game(s) more funand they are optional as you need to push a certain button to activate them. Let's say a museum or a video game conference wants to show a (or a few) game(s) with the help of OdySim, as you start a game it is ready to play as it would be on a real Odyssey (with the exception of the self-centering English), and the rest are "options" and "upgrade/bonus options" and is at the discretion of the handler.

In Santa's Gifts Hunt, there is a "bonus option" that a real Odyssey can't do as i wanted to make the game more "seasoned". If you haven't read the manual, try "1" to activate (and also to switch it off) this bonus option. :)

BTW, if you are succesful to use an USB joystick, could you tell me how to do it so that anyone reading this blog could use an USB controller ? That would be great! =)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

November 13, 2016: I just finished playing Hockey. Another fine addition to the Ody-Sim
line up! It is great to see on the monitor! If I could make two
suggestions, though: First, it's a bit difficult to calibrate the AI
level with the 9 and 0 buttons(which I like to do as I'm always trying
to "take my game to the next level" (sorry for that long worn-out
cliche). The second suggestion would be to not allow a score against
the AI unless the ball goes through the goal. If that happened, it would
make it distinctly difficult game than tennis (and I suspect that back
in the day, people likely gave up on the face-off and icing/off-sides
rules, and just started playing tennis with the hockey overlay on.)
Conversely, however, I would allow the AI to score against the human
player if the puck/ball passes anywhere over the human's right vertical
side of the screen (that is, i'd keep things the same as is now for the
AI player. (If you required the puck to go through the human's goal,
it'd be pretty impossible for the AI to ever score). Anyway, thanks
again, and I would ask that you not feel rushed to get all games
completed by the end of the year. Please rather pace yourself and take
time for your self and family. Even the Christmas Game can wait until
after New Year's so you can spend time with your family (By the way that
looks totally cool, and when you do release it I wounder if you'd
consider adding the "first sketch--Santa on the Skiiing hill--as an
option."Take care my friend--this is such a great project!

My reply: Again, it's always a pleasure reading your comments Brian and please do continue to send comments (good or bad). Suggestiuon #1: it is true that trying to calibrate the AI and also the Ball Speed is not easy as the numbers changes way fast. I'll try to reduce the setting speed by half at first to see if it's easier to calibrate. That's a great suggestion!

As for the second suggestion, that would be a great option to add to the game as it is too easy to score. And that was true that people back in the days would play the Tennis game with the Hockey overlay as both uses the same cartridge. I'll check that out eventually.

And the third one (without knowing it...lol!) for including the Santa-Skiing overlay (the first draft) as a bonus or as a 2-in-1 game ... i haven't thought of that at all! Another great suggestion Brian!

So in review, suggestion #1 is on the "DO" list as it will be easier to calibrate Ai & Ball Speed and also suggestion #3 as a bonus game to Santa's Gifts Hunt. For suggestion #2, i will have to make a sub-code as an option and that will take some time so it's in the "To Try Later" (TTL..ha!).

So continue to send comments/suggestions/rotten tomatos/Playboy mags (hahahahah!)/etc... as
i always appreciate them my friend. Even thought of being an Odyssey game designer ? ;)

Monday, 21 November 2016

As promised, i will now release my latest homebrew which is called "Santa's Gifts Hunt!. After Brian (aka CN10) ask me if i could release the Haunted House game before Halloween, this started me to think (i'm even thinking when i dream...%&&*%?%?& i hate that!) what if i coud do a Xmas theme game for the Magnavox Odyssey ?

Well now it's finally done and ready to be downloaded, so here's the LINK for the game and here's a little video i just uploaded on Youtube:

And here's (again, see previous posts) a screenshot of the game:

And the two pages on how to play with the game (which is also included in the ZIP file in PDF):

And if anyone wants to make a real version of this game for any Magnavox Odyssey, then please contact me at: slydc@yahoo.ca

So enjoy this latest homebrew and please give me your comments, game on folks! =)

Thursday, 3 November 2016

To start the "month of the dead" AKA November (that's what we call this month in French "Mois des morts") as November is cold, windy, rainy and leaves in the trees have mostly fallen, nature looks "dead" sort to speak (more like zombie).

Well to cheer things up, here's not one but two games with newer version (LOVE 0.10.1): Hockey (season has started!) and Submarine. Hockey has sound and AI as bonus features and i added sound in Submarine but you will only hear it if the ball passes thru a spot (and if sound in ON of course). Oh! Almost forgot! I added also a scoreboard especially for Submarine as this feature was planned (in a way) in the U.S. Patent #3,809,395 "Television Combat Game". I suggest to read this patent, it has great information on how Submarine was created and how games in that time period were imagined.

Back to the subject, here's two screenshots:

So enjoy these two games while i'm doing the others. Oh and here's a sneak peak of the upcoming Xmas homebrew game i'm doing. The game is titled "Santa's Gifts Hunt" and the game is already finished! Yup BUT... the only thing i need to do before i release this homebrew is the game manual in PDF format.

Here's the first sketch of the game:

I know, it's the "Ski" game with an Xmas twist. I felt it wasn't enough as it lacked gameplay so i've redone the overlay, made 36 cards and you need a die to play. Check now what it really looks like:

Now it's more playable, don't you think ? It's like a video board game which the overlay is the board and the tokens are the spots. I'll explain the game concept when i'll have finished the game manual. =)

"Hi,
First off, i think that all understand that all of the coding
takes time, and the homebrews will only be created if your time allows.

Second,
That Haunted House simulation is off the charts! Yes it's true that
rules are all but incomprehensible (as the angry videogame nerd points
out) but the game is there with the cards! One my childhood
disapointments was that when I finally got to play the actual haunted
house game, it was basically a piece of cling-wrap with a drawing on it.
It wasn't really "on" the TV , the way that the paddles were. At that
time J. Paul Getty was widely thought to be the worlds richest man (even
though people would now snear at his measly one billion). But if Mr.
Getty wanted to play Haunted House, he'd have to put the overlay over
the screen and be content with it. Now anyone can have the Haunted House
playfield actually "behind" the screen, which was my vision of what
even a billion bucks couldn't buy back in the day. Plus the cards
"magically" appear as part of the game as a bonus.

This is a tremendous Halloween gift to all fans of retro gaming. Thank you, Sly ,very much"

My reply: "Hi Brain!

First, thanks very much for the kind words as always! ;)

Yes, that's true. The more "spare" time i have, the more i can work on the OdySim. But be sure that i'll try my best to finish coding all original 12 games released with the Odyssey by the end of this year. I don't make a promise but i'll try my best! =)

I totally agree that the instruction for Haunted House is pretty "nonsense". They tried to come up with a game rule for but that failed. Would be way more fun to adapt "Clue" or would be more appealing as a "rifle gun" shooting game (aka "Spot-buster") where you hunt down (square) ghosts. Ahh DRAT!! I just told you a preview of the upcoming "Super Odyssey" simulator i'll be working on AFTER OdySim will be finished.

BTW, any overlay (or playfield) in OdySim are really in "front" instead of in the "back" because i would never made this project in the first place if i couln't simulate the real thing (meaning overlays). Mr.Baer did back then (in 1967 i think) a playfield in the back which he called "Teleprompter" and redone it for a cable company in 1974. I even made a circuit not long after my encounter with M.Baer that reproduced the Teleprompter on a real Odyssey like in these pictures:

I did shown these pictures to M.Baer a couple of month before he left this plain of existance and he was impressed and told me that no one redone the teleprompter since 1974. Well, i "blushed" when i read his email and still doing it when i'm thinking of this story. ;)

Oh and i also made a video output which was easier to display on a Amiga monitor (or any Video input TV/monitor), but the teleprompter and video out mods are future stories for this blog (i'm more confortable with electronics than programming).

I can play my modded Odyssey on the 49" LCD TV without any snow, distortions, rf noises, etc...it's so great! And the next mod will be "SOUND"!That's right, i know how M.Baer done his "active card" (he made two which both have sound output and where the sound of the OdySim comes from!) but like i wrote, these are all going to be future stories as i have many hardware mods to write and show.

I'll stop right there before i write too much (LOL!). So continue to send me your comments, i enjoy reading and responding to them! So take care and keep in touch Brian! =)

Thursday, 27 October 2016

First, sorry for the late reply Brian. I try my best to post, reply and code as much as i can but with kids, work and all the shi-bang isn't easy to have some free time. Hope you understand. :)

You sent me two comment, which are: "Thanks again for your hard work, and keeping the magic alive!! on October 13 and this one: "Okay, it worked; Now we all want to see the homebrews" on October 17.

My reply: "Thanks very much Brian but like i wrote that it's not easy to have free time with all that surrounds us (kids, work, etc) and i'm trying my best...well more like trying to find some time mostly (lol!). And as for the homebrews, i will show in due time (sorry, need to keep some mysteries to spice this blog...lol!).

Not long after Halloween, i'll post the "Xmas" homebrew to satisfy the curiosity of certain readers (grin). In the meantime, have a safe and a Happy Halloween!

As promised, i have finally updated the game "Haunted House" to the newer version of LÖVE 0.10.1 and all the cards are now included witht the game (fully simulated). Please read the "OdySim-Haunted-ReadMe.txt" file inside the zip file.

For downloading, you can click "HERE" or in the right menu. The two next game to get an updated will be "Hockey" (the new season just began!) and "Submarine", and hopefully that it won't take a few months...(heh!) =P

And also, i'll have a new game (well...sort of) for Christmas that coming soon and this will be the first "Xmas-theme" game for the Odyssey!

Sunday, 9 October 2016

Sorry for the very late reply, been so much busy these past 3 months that seems only 2 weeks has past. I'll have some "me-time" next weekend (finally!) so i'll try my best to finish the Haunted House game with all accessories by Halloween and "if" i can, i'll try to release other Odyssey games.

Maybe one day, i could simulate the "Odyssey Evil" (and the bonus game: Spirit Portal) game by "ManCaveArcade" but i have to ask him permission first and will need better pictures and scans as i have only low-rez pictures. I know, this game is very gory-looking but has Halloween written all over it. Just check the posts on AtariAge: Odyssey Evil Homebrew Official Pre-Order Thread Only 25 copies

So there's at least two Halloween-theme games for the Magnavox Odyssey but no Christmas-theme one as Xmas is also coming in less than 3 months. Anyone up to make a Xmas homebrew game for the Odyssey ? Oh wait!... i may have one in mind! I'll share it very soon!

In plain English: "To tell the truth, the Extex Pong is a "clone" of the Epoch Electrotennis, which they based it on the Magnavox Odyssey Table Tennis game. Even if the two games is quite similar, they have differences. I am trying to simulate first generation game console the best i can."

Tuesday, 2 August 2016

Since it is summer and i have my kids 24h/day and 7 days/week since school is finished (hey...not easy to take care of two kids as a single parent), the OdySim project has been on hold and will be for the rest of August. So enjoy summer until it's last day because this is i'm doing.

Even if i'm taking a break, this doesn't mean that ideas/projects are put aside. I'm planning to make a TTL version of the Odyssey with only a few TTL's (6 to 8) since i saw the "Brown Box" at M.Baer's home. (BTW, the Brown Box that was at M.Baer's home was a TTL version since the real one is at the Smithsonian Museum and this one is made with transistors, no TTLs). And yes, i did meet Ralph H. Baer at his home with four others members of the C.C.J.V.Q. (Sarah Szefer, Éric St-Cyr, Pascal Reeves and Éric Assouline) on April 21, 2012. Visiting his home was like traveling back to the end of the 60's (no kidding!). Everything was as if it was just brought and installed, if i could have any feeling of time traveling, his house was the perfect place, like entering a warp or vortex and go 50 years back...it was awesome!

Anyhow, i will post some pics in the future but in the meantime, you can watch the interview made by Éric St-Cyr and Sarah Szefer right here:

And finally, Brian (aka CN10) posted this comment on June 15, 2016:

That's really cool! As always hats off to Sly DC for ensuring that our
children don't have to grow up in a world with no Odyssey Simulator
(actually let's face it . . . these kids nowadays aren't interested in
anything that can't be played on an iphone). OK, so I'm trying to see
how dialed-up I can get the AI, and still score a point. I have a rules
question--do I lose a point if I return the ball out of bounds (and can
you kind of specify the details on that?) Anyway, amazing that I'm
actually playing an Odyssey again after 40+ years! As for Beach
Volleyball . . . I would say that the OdySim is now heading for an ESRB
rating of M, given the already present themes of survival-horror,
gambling, and intense and graphic images of dinosaur violence!)
Seriously, Thanks again for these truly excellent upgrades!!

And here's my reply Brian:

Thanks very much but i don't deserve the credit for insuring that our children won't grow up without not knowing the Odyssey, they are plenty of people who are more qualified. :)

Well Beach Volleyball wasn't intented to be "rated M", just sexy. Better be sexy than gory i can tell you that. And glad that you liked the newer version, wait until the others new versions...i'm sure you gonna like them! =)

So enjoy summer folks and see you at the end of August or beginning of September! =)

Tuesday, 14 June 2016

I finally corrected the "bug" that was bugging me...LOL!! It's was only a small coding error that i forgot to add (DOH!), but now i can begin to upgrade all the rest of the games.

But before doing that, here is the latest "OdySim Tennis" (or in the menu on the right side) version which is in sync with the latest LÖVE version (0.10.1). And i added a new feature thanks to Brian (aka CN10) which you can now decrease or increase the AI level (with buttons "9" and "0") so this way you can "beat" the AI, because before this version the AI was unbeatable. And also, the "F9" button now works (you can switch OFF or ON the overlay).

So download this new version and send me (see the read-me text for my e-mail address) or leave a comment if there is any bug(s) or error(s) or to say what you think of it.

Pretty cool banner but for $89.00 US...nope! Not for me. If at least it had a picture of the game console, now maybe i would have bid on it.This would make a great banner to add to the National Videogame Museum (in Frisco, Texas) =)

Thank
you so much for all the work you put into this! I'm really looking
forward to the updated Haunted House. Question: can the AI in the new
Tennis game be beaten? The opponent paddle seems to move 1:1 with the
english I throw at it, and I haven't got on the scoreboard yet. (If
there's a winning strategy, I'd really like to hear it). Anyway, it is
all awesome!

My reply:

Hi again CN10!

First, thanks very much for the "pat in the back" , it's always appreciated! =)

Be patient for the updated Haunted House as it's coming soon and for your question about beating the AI, well...you can't! It's not been coded to be able to beat it as i just programmed the AI to follow the vertical ball trace so if the ball move up and down, the AI follows instantly. So don't try to beat it, you simply can't (for now anyway).

After reading your comment, i coded a "Level Adjustment" for the AI in the Tennis game with the new Love version (0.10.1) and the "AI Level" works great! You can variate between 300 and 500 for the speed reaction as Player 1 speed is naturally set for 500 so if you put it at 300, the AI moves less faster and at 500, it moves as fast as the ball (unbeatable).

The new buttons for the AI Level are: "9" to decrease the AI Speed and "0" in increase it's speed and to know which speeds it goes, just press "F3" and the speed will be indicated in the upper-right corner of the screen (see picture below).

And just press again "F3" to remove the AI speed indicator.

For about the "Canvas" problem with Love 0.8.0, it was indeed the old version of Love that was the problem as it is the first version for the canvas to be used. And with Love version 0.10.1, all shades (white/grey/black) are now working properly. The above screenshot is less darker than the 0.8.0 version if you make the difference.

As for anyone who will ask for displaying the ball speed, my answer is "no" as you can see the ball speed increasing or decreasing at the screen (by pressing "1" and "2") so no need to display the ball speed, but for the AI speed, that i had to since this feature isn't implied in the original Odyssey.

I have only a small "bug" to correct before upgrading all the games to Love 0.10.1 as it "boots" to fullscreen mode without a problem and even when changing resolutions works but trying to return to "window" mode is where i have a bug, it does display in a window but the game isn't resized. So once
this bug fixed, all 12 original games (of the 1TL200) will be upgraded and released afterwards with also all 4 Rifle Gun games.

But why specify the 1TL200 ? Because of the upcoming post about the unreleased YD7001 model. But before i end this post, here's a teaser: Did you know that a picture of the unreleased YD7001 model is available on the internet for at least the past 16 years ? YES! It's true! I'm not bullshiting any of you and i swear it on my kids heads!

Oh and i will also talk about an unknown "clone" that almost nobody knows about it. Even M.Baer didn't know about that specific clone. But that will be another story for another time. ;)

Stay "blogged" for the next post, folks! =)

OUPS! Almost forgot! I've made today an updated version of the Volleyball overlay which i think is more appealing. I'll let you judge for yourself:

Saturday, 11 June 2016

8 games are finished, meaning the game, overlay and accessories (if any) are coded each in a self-executable. The games are: Analogic, Cat and Mouse, Hockey, Simon Says, Ski, Submarine, Table Tennis and Tennis.

Only 4 are left to finished, which are:

* Football (this one has many accessories...argh!)
* Haunted House (only missing the cards)
* Roulette (all accessories need to be coded)
* States (Map is done, now missing the 50 cards)

As some of you already knows, i code the games in LUA with the help of the LOVE engine, but i'm still using LOVE version 0.8.0 and i ran into a new problem: the canvas...well sort of a problem. The problem with the canvas (this is what gives any resolution) is any shades between white and black (it includes also grey BTW) is when i try to make a shade with transparency, it does not quite work. Let me explain...

If i take either white, grey or black (shades), transparency does work but any spots (player, ball or wall) is painting the canvas...yes painting and i tried so many things and none seems to work so instead of using any shades for transparency, i am now using a different color...say blue sky instead of grey for the overlay of States. This way any spots doesn't "paint" the canvas but the only problem left is that the overlay isn't colored exactly as the original overlay.

But that may be only a version problem of the engine as i'm still using an old version. I will try to test out with the last version released of LOVE (version 0.10.1) to see if i'm getting the same results or not. If the canvas gives better results with the latest version, the original 12 games will have to be released a few weeks later to give me the time to adapt the codes between versions.

Monday, 6 June 2016

Some of you may know "Rev.Rob" aka Robert Allen Vinciguerra. He made some Odyssey homebrews as "Odball", "Mentis Cohorts" and "Red vs. Blue" and he recently re-released Oddball as "Odball LE" (Limited Edition) on Ebay with Red vs Blue as a game bonus.

I did wrote that i may/would make his homebrews freely available for the OdySim but i wanted to get his permission and write to him one last time, that was on March 15, 2016 on Ebay with his ID account "Rev.Zodac" and here's the original message that i have sent him:

Hi M.Vinciguerra,

I am writing to you by Ebay because i've tried by AtariAge and 2 other sites and
never had a reply back. I am Sly DC from the odysim blogspot. This is my last try
to contact you as i still want to ask you permission to simulate all your Magnavox
Odyssey homebrews. So you can either reply thru Ebay or you can post a message on
my OdySim blog. I'll await your response, thanks very much. ;)

--- Sly DC ---

As today (June 06, 2016), i still haven't received an answer. And the worst thing is that he knows that i want to contact him and ask permission as he's reading this blog for quite a time. He also has an account on Reddit under "ZadocPaet" and on Imgur as "zadoc". Took me about 2 minutes to find his residential address (address withheld) in Glendale, Arizona.

So since it's been almost two months, i will do his homebrews with or without his permission as he's avoiding any messages or reply. This was my "2 cents" on this matter...

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Now for news about the OdySim. The last releases were individual games (Cat and Mouse + Simon Says) and as it is going with coding and all, i will continue to release all the games individually as my last attempt to code the "all-in-1" simulator (the menu specifically) is giving me errors that i tried to correct but still getting errors so...screw the "all-in-1" for now.

In the following days/weeks i will released all 12 original games that were packed-in with the Odyssey ITL200 as individual games. This way it is easier for me to correct or update a specific game as if someone wants to play a specific game then just need to click on the executable file.

I may also released in the meantime all four Rifle games since those only needs a small code update. So here's how i plan the releases:

After that...errr...i do have other projects concerning the Odyssey but in the meantime, i'll keep those projects "under rap" and concentrate on this project as well as some LoveM.E.S.S. and LoveM.E.G.S projects. =)

So what about the model "YD7001" i last wrote about ?? That's coming very soon! ;)

Quick
question here. I'd read that Baer had created an active card, but
couldn't find any details on the circuit that he created. I'm an
electrical engineer by trade and would like to try modding an Odyssey
card for sound. If you could tell me where you found the circuit
details, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Reply: Hi fd3400f8...!

M.Baer did created an active sound card, well in fact two. One in 1972-73 but this one disappear/lost in the fog of time and he rebuilt one 40 years later (in 2003). But there is no circuit/schematic of this card online.

I got the sound from a recorded video done by G4 so the sound n the OdySim is the real sound you can hear from the 2003 sound card. But technically, you can get a very faint "thund" sound (almost non audible) from pin #30 of the cartridge slot (J2). From this point, you'll need to amplify the sound and tweek it to maks a "beep" or "bip" sound. This is the only information i know on how M.Baer done his active sound card. Oh and BTW, the method was re-used in the Odyssey 100, 200 400 and 500. Check one of them to make yourself a sound circuit. Good Luck! =)

Funny
Ad! Actually, they might have taken the 1970’s aftershave approach and
put a thought balloon over the woman’s head that reads “I never thought
that Gus was very appealing before, but after 40 minutes of trying to
figure out this tedious Football game, he looks downright . . .
exciting!”

Reply: Hi CN10!

Thanks! The original ad was from "Griffin Microsheen Stain Boot Polish" which i've found on the net. And your thought idea for the ad is also funny! (lol!!) =)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

James Brolly reported some bugs and errors which were:

* Scoreboard works but scores stays at 0-0 forever

* OSD cool but would be better if can be deactivated and just leave AI and Sound icons on the left.

* Input command lines ??

OK, now the zero scores are now working in the last version i got (on my HD) and now we can deactivate the OSD (or not) with the F5 button. James also sent me a test.zip file which shows that command lines can work with LOVE.EXE.

Tried it and yes, it does work! Cool! Thanks for the file James! Oh and i also discovered that if you make a "conf.lua" file, you can switch ON or OFF many options as a "conf" file is a configuration file. See here: https://love2d.org/wiki/Config_Files

But i'm using LOVE version 0.8.0 so there is not much options. I will eventually upgrade it to a newer LOVE version (example 0.10.1) in the future.

Nico (aka pucpuc) reported a small error in the readme file as it states AI is F1 but in fact AI is F4. And he also made avalaible a overlays.zip files in which many overlays are in higher sizes.Many thanks! I'll check them out and eventually use them in future releases of the OdySim. =)

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That's it for now as i have a lot of catching up. In the next post, i'll talk about an Odyssey that almost saw a release but was axed at the last minute.

Saturday, 12 March 2016

Remember the old saying: An image is worth a thousand words ? In this case, a thousand words that slipped in a crack (LOL!!). If this ad really existed, this would have helped sales of the Odyssey, that's for sure!

OK, now for the serious stuff: It's been at least a month i haven't released or done anything for this blog and i won't make any excuses since health and family comes first. Even if nothing happened in the past month, i did make some research on the net and found a blog that talks about old computers, video games, electronic games, etc...but there is two post that got my attention as the person who is in charge of the blog, aka cAHOONAh, which he vectored all 11 original overlays and post them in PDF format.

I downloaded all his vector overlays and converted the Tennis one back into a PNG format and that gave me a 2209x1754 image file, and it looks awesome! I still haven't made a semi-transparent overlay out of the PNG file....yet! but be sure i'll do it very soon to see what kind of result this will give. Here's the link of his blog: http://computer-classics.de/cah_blog2/

And here's the links to the two Odyssey vector overlays: http://computer-classics.de/cah_blog2/odyssey/overlay-heaven/ and: http://computer-classics.de/cah_blog2/odyssey/a-tiny-odyssey-lost-cables-and-traced-overlays/

Wednesday, 10 February 2016

Here's not one but 2 games from the original pack-in games with the Magnavox Odyssey, they are: Cat and Mouse + Simon Says. Cat and Mouse has only the F7+F8 resolution buttons added and there is NO AI or Sound. As for Simon Says, it also has the F7/F8 resolution buttons added PLUS buttons "9" and "0" for displaying the cards that goes with the game. Just press "9" to display a random card an again for another one and so on....and press "0" to cancel displaying a card.

Simon Says also has NO AI or sound added (this game simply sucks but it's part of the library) as i simply simulated what was required, BUT...this is the first game that i have included a "randomizer" so other games will be simulated quite soon! :)

Enjoy these 2 games and others from the 12 games pack-in will follow soon! =)

Why is your web sight not crashing with retro gaming traffic? There's
people who've been waiting 20 years for the Odyssey Simulator you've
developed! I give you my genuine and profound thanks and please put up a
Paypal donate link for those who wish to support your future work.

It pleases me to see that you are enjoying the OdySim but for now, i don't seek any publicity as i'm still learning/developping the OdySim, maybe sometime in the future but for now it's really a WIP (work in progress). And as for donation(s), i'm not rich but i don't need money as i'm enjoying doing this as a past time hobby (and also to preserve this "Holy Grail" of all video game consoles/systems).
If people want to "donate" something, they just need to send pictures or scans of accessories that i'm missing to properly simulate the Magnavox Odyssey. I will list the missing accessories soon.

Saturday, 30 January 2016

OdySim Tennis is now at version 0.3 and now has added new features and some corrections.

Correction was especially for the fullscreen: When changing resolution with either F7 or F8, the new resolution was displaying in window mode instead in fullscreen and you needed to press F1...well not anymore! Now the game boots in fullscreen (800x600 by default) and when you change resolution (with F7 or F8), it stays fullscreen (it was again a minor code error).

I also added mini-icons that tell if Sound or AI is activated (or not) when the OSD is activated (F5). When you press F5, it displays the resolution and if you have pressed F12 (sound) and/or F4 (AI - Player 1), it will display right after the OSD message box a yellow mini icon for sound and a red mini-icon for the AI. Many thanks for "Nico aka pucpuc" for the great suggestion! =)

And for last, i've added the small and big scoreboard for the Tennis game! I know it's isn't part of the original accessory for the Magnavox Odyssey Tennis game but this adds more fun. To activate this feature, you need to press F11 to display the small scoreboard, press F11 again to display the big scoreboard and F11 again if you want no display at all.

Check out the screenshots:

And here's a picture on an HDTV:

The mini-icons are on the right side, that's was a test. ;)

So download the OdySim Tennis v0.3 on the right of this post and have fun! =)

Hi pucpuc! Many thanks for the HIREs overlays, i will add those to the upcoming versions. As for the download thing, i will put the files on archive.org very soon so it will be easier to anyone to download the files. Again thanks! =)

Friday, 29 January 2016

Just a small update to tell that i have coded the scoreboard (version A) to the Hockey game:

I had to downsize the scoreboard to 300 x 122 since the original size i had was covering too much of the play field. Both player scores are working great and by pressing F11, it toggles to display or not the scoreboard depending on your liking.

I also have the idea of either reduce the scoreboard to look like this instead:

Or i may even put both scoreboards (big and small) so that you may choose at your liking. So which do you prefer people ? Big ? Small ? or both ? (personally, i would go with both! =) )

As i was going to post this, pucpuc posted a reply and here's my answer:

Great to read that you like the Sound and AI additions!

Changing overlays to be in HiREs would mean each game would be bigger in size and it was already a very long process to do all the overlays at 800x600 (in spare times, all the overlays took me almost a year). If someone want to redo all the overlays at HiREs (high resolutions), i would be glad to add them.

But for now, i'm concentrating to code all the accessories so each games will be properly simulated. Oh and sorry, i completely forgot to make the Beta Tennis to start at fullscreen...my bad!

OUPS! Again my bad for the F4 button to toggle the AI. That is a great idea to add an indicator for Sound and AI when the OSD is on, thanks for the suggestion! =)

Didn't know you have problem to download from the CCJVQ server from Germany. Think i'll find an upload service so that anyone anywhere can download the files, thanks for telling me this and also for the kind words! =)

--- Sly DC ---

P.S: When pressing either F7 or F8 to change resolution, the new resolution doesn't display at fullscreen but after choosing the resolution you want, just press F1 and your new resolution will be displayed in fullscreen. I still haven't finished with the resolution code so for now, you need to do this until i've corrected this small inconvenience. ;) (remember folks, it's still a beta version!)

Thursday, 28 January 2016

I've just finished a Beta version of the Tennis game and put it online for those who want to test it out in their favorite emulator front-end. This is only the Tennis game found in the Magnavox Odyssey as it is the most played of all games.

As in the previous post, i have made some few corrections and added other features like Resolution change (from 640x480 to ???? - depending of the monitor/TV screen), a button for displaying (or not) the resolution size, a robot opponent (Player 1 becomes the robot opponent) and another one...

I have put the original sound from M.Baer's Active Card (the second one he made)! I know that the Magnavox Odyssey doesn't make any sound(s) but M.Baer did made a "Active Card" in 1972/73 so that any Magnavox Odyssey could make a sound (better than nothing) but Magnavox rejected the idea back then. Click HERE to read about the Active Card (link to Pong-Story).

I suggest that you read the "Read Me" text inside the zip file for all the details. Just unzip-it and double-click on the "OdySim-Tennis.exe" and have fun! OH...almost forgot! The executable is for Windows 32-Bit version.

Please give me your comments, ideas, suggestions, a 24 pack of Coca-Cola (lol!) by email or on this blog! Thanks and have fun! =)

The problem with LÖVE is that i don't know if the BETA Tennis game will work with the ahk launcher script. That's why i've made a BETA version so people (like you) can test out if this
version can work or not depending with which software you'll be using.

So try out this version and let me know about it, thanks very much! =)

Wednesday, 20 January 2016

First, i want to reply to "Anonymous" which he wrote: "nice work! It would be great to have command line options like start
in fullscreen and start directly into a game for emu frontends like
hyperspin."

And here's my answer "Anonymous": Thanks very much! :) Sadly, LOVE doesn't take command lines, i tried that and read about it and this doesn't work at all...BUT! Read below so that you may used OdySim with a front-end like Hyperspin. =)

I finally corrected the Tennis game as the two "spots" (players) that was not responding and also both "reset" buttons, it was a stupid code mistake. And now the default ball speed is set to 300 instead of 200 (just a tad faster).

Now for the menu...that is still a problem. I can't decide if i try to correct the bug OR put a simple front-end so that anyone could use their own front-end (like Hyperspin) OR make each games completely individual executable.

Here's the real problem for now: I tried to code the different resolutions into the menu and that failed miserably, but...if i put the resolution code into an individual game (like i did for the Tennis game), now it works like a charm. So if i make each game "executable", this will work with different resolutions and can be used with any emulator front-end. Each game should be around 5 Megs of size, which is very, very small compared to a lot of games.

So the logical course would be to release the OdySim without the built-in menu so it can be used with any front-end emulator. What do you think of this people ? Post your comments!

P.S.: As for booting a game full screen, since each game will have the different resolution code, i can put the "state" to boot a game full screen instead in window mode and then you can choose the desired resolution (but you will need to press "F1" to make your new resolution full screen again - which is logical as you rotate thru different resolution) but at least, the game will boot full screen right away.

Wednesday, 13 January 2016

Sigh...i wish i could travel to other dimensions and parallel Earths, but that's not the case. ;P

OK, now to the subject! It's been more than two months now that i haven't made any progress or even posted anything (until now) but that will change soon. I began this simulator about three years ago and i intend to finish it (eventually one day, always depends on time).

I wanted to reply to Dastari who commented about a month ago and i don't know why, i tried to reply back three times and it is never published so here's my reply:

"Hi Dastari,

Sorry for the very late reply and thanks for the support! I will begin to work on the OdySim in a couple of days as i'm finishing other small projects. Let me know what you think of OdySim so far, thanks again! =)"

In the next version, it will be without (fingers crossed!) any "bugs" and i'll try to included some few homebrew games as well and simulation of the first accessory: